Casino news source: Sun Herald - http://www.sunherald.com/
Choctaw hearing notice disputed
PAC forms to fight tribe's casino plan
By TOM WILEMON
tewilemon@sunherald.com
BILOXI - Coast Businesses for Fair Play, a new political-action committee, is being formed to oppose the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians' plan to put a casino in Jackson County.
The proposed casino took an important first step this week when the Bureau of Indian Affairs started the process for an environmental-impact statement and filed notice of an Oct. 18 public hearing with the Federal Register. The newly formed group said Coast residents have not been properly notified of the meeting.
"This hasn't been published in newspapers here," said Adam Lee, a consultant for Coast Businesses for Fair Play. "The public has not been notified by the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the governor's office. This announcement comes as a total shock to the people of the Coast. The people of Jackson County and the Coast are just beginning to recover from Katrina. We can't believe that now someone is trying to take advantage of this disaster by attempting to force an untaxed and unregulated casino on a county, which has twice voted down taxed and regulated gaming. The two weeks' notice appears to be an attempt to thwart public input.
"We just object to the lack of public notice and this transparent attempt to deny public input."
Coast Businesses for Fair Play has not yet filed a campaign-finance report with the secretary of state, but the organization most likely is funded by private-sector casinos that don't want competition from an Indian-owned property.
The Choctaws are exempt from a 12 percent tax on gross gambling revenues. Their proposed casino's location would be an additional advantage. It would be the first property available to gamblers driving in from Florida and Alabama on Interstate 10.
Choctaw casinos are not regulated by the Mississippi Gaming Commission, but the tribe does have its own regulatory board and rules.
Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin has invited Jackson County residents to visit the tribe's Pearl River Resort, where it operates the Silver Star and Golden Moon casinos. He has asked the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to hold a referendum to coincide with the 2008 presidential referendum to see if voters would approve of an Indian-owned casino.
The election is not a legal requirement. The Choctaws would need the approval of Gov. Haley Barbour to open either a Vegas-style casino or a bingo-based slot operation in Jackson County. Barbour has notified the U.S. Department of the Interior he opposes the expansion of gambling into the county.
The covenant signed by former Gov. Kirk Fordice that allows the Choctaws to operate two casinos on their reservation near Philadelphia forbids expansion of Vegas-style Indian gambling into land acquired after 1988 unless it is next to their reservation. Barbour could refuse to negotiate terms for the Choctaws to open a casino in Jackson County or seek to amend the existing covenant. It requires the Choctaws to provide $250,000 a year to the state for tourism promotion. Indian tribes with casinos in other states pay more and have less-lucrative covenants. |
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